Today, Near Field Communication (“NFC”) allows for simplifying certain actions, especially forming communication pairs, e.g., such as pairing a Bluetooth headset to a mobile communication device. Rather than going through the settings to pair Bluetooth devices, NFC allows for a single tap of the Bluetooth headset to initiate and complete secure pairing. There are many other examples where NFC today creates simplicity. Yet in most cases, it can only initiate a single, predefined action. If you want to control variations of actions, you can currently only use NFC as an initiator of the action and then have to interact with the mobile communication device using the touch screen to define unique variations of an action. An example of this would be using the NFC mobile communication device to tap a tag and open an application, but once the application is opened, you need to use the mobile communication device's touch screen to interact and initiate unique actions or variations of actions within the app. The ease of physically taping or waving your mobile communication device over a surface where an NFC tag is located is the key which makes NFC intuitive and simple.
In conventional systems, close proximity communication or short range communication technologies, e.g., NFC enabled mobile communication devices can “read”—e.g., receive data from—other close proximity enabled devices, e.g., NFC Tags. The NFC mobile communication device “taps”—places the NFC mobile communication device within the communication range of the NFC tag—the NFC tag, to read the data from the NFC tag. The close proximity communication standards enable very open communications between close proximity communication devices. Unlike Bluetooth communications which occur over several feet and thus desire some protection from unwanted access, close proximity communication usually occur within ten centimeters and do not generally require passwords for close proximity communication devices to communicate. However, close proximity communication standards require that the communications occur in close proximity, i.e., generally within ten centimeters, in the “Near Field”, even though close proximity communication tags, e.g., NFC tags, are generally passive and the close proximity communication mobile communication device provides the energy to activate the close proximity communication tag and communicates with the close proximity communication tag. Although referred to generally as the mobile communication device performing actions, it is commonly understood that it is more specifically referring to the appropriate hardware and appropriate software of the mobile communication device working generally together.
NFC tags and similar devices are very desirable to use. NFC tags used to be relatively expensive but are currently relatively inexpensive. NFC tags are relatively small, non-obtrusive, and very light; as such, they are easy to employ in a variety of locations without their placement being detracting from the utilitarian and non-utilitarian of their context. Conventional NFC tags are approximately one inch square or smaller and almost paper thin. Custom NFC tags can be as small as 1 mm square and almost paper thin. Although there is generally a tradeoff of size versus power/data storage, the NFC tag efficiency has significantly increased over the years. NFC tags are passive require no constant power source—their power source is received from the NFC reader. In the not too distant future 3M printers or analogous systems will enable a user's to “print” custom NFC tags at home.
In accordance with NFC standards and protocols, an NFC mobile communication device receives the data from an NFC tag and interprets the data. This data interpreted by the NFC mobile communication device will result in some action by the mobile communication device related to the data. If the data is informational data, then the mobile communication device's action is, for example, storing the informational data for later use. If the data is a command, then when an NFC mobile communication device reads the data from an NFC tag, the NFC mobile communication device interprets the command and the command causes the mobile communication device to perform an action(s), e.g., open a specific web page or start a specific app. Subsequently, the user can then observe and/or interact with the web page or the specific app using the standard interaction methodology of the mobile communication device such as using the touch screen or physical features the mobile communication device (e.g., keyboard, built in motion detection features, etc.). Additionally, there is NFC tag data which when interpreted by an NFC mobile communication device will result in the mobile communication device running a defined sets of instructions. Generally the instruction is narrow, so when an NFC tag is read, the data from the tag causes the mobile communication device to execute a process which includes narrowly defined actions. This is similar to using macros on a computer. While these can initiate multiple steps of actions, they are narrowly defined and have little to no control or modification ability from the user who touched the specific NFC tag.
Further, in accordance with NFC standards and protocols, conventional methods of a NFC mobile communication device reading NFC tags limit reading commands from an NFC tag to a single or more actions. A single action is, for example, to turn on the Bluetooth feature on a user's mobile communication device. For example, a user enters their car and taps their NFC mobile communication device on an NFC tag in the car. The data on the NFC tag contains instructions which the mobile communication device interprets to turn on its Bluetooth. Once the mobile communication device has interpreted the instructions the mobile communication device executes the instruction resulting in the mobile communication device turning on its Bluetooth. The NFC tag data can also includes several actions. For example, the NFC tag has an instruction to turn on the mobile communication device's Bluetooth feature and other instruction to turn on the mobile communication device's GPS feature. For example, a user enters their car and taps their NFC mobile communication device on an NFC tag in the car. The data on the NFC tag contains instructions which the mobile communication device interprets to turn on its Bluetooth and GPS feature. Once the mobile communication device has interpreted the instructions the mobile communication device executes the instruction resulting in the mobile communication device turning on its Bluetooth and its GPS features.
In another example of narrowly defined actions, the data on a NFC tag includes instructions where mobile communication device's Bluetooth feature will toggle whether it is on or off. Thus, when a user taps their mobile communication device to an NFC tag, it can turn on the Bluetooth if it's off, and if it is on, it can have instructions to turn the Bluetooth off. But if the user wishes more interactive actions with their NFC phone, they have to open settings in Bluetooth and interact with the NFC phone via the touch screen.
In another limitation, conventional users would have actions where the user has to tap multiple NFC tags with each tag predefined, with narrowly defined actions. However, these instructions are static and not dynamic. For an example, if a NFC tag includes instructions that turns on both the Bluetooth and the GPS, as in the example above, when the user enters their car and taps the NFC tag. However, if the user wants different results, for example, if the user wishes have the mobile communication device turn on only the Bluetooth but not the GPS, then either the user will have to turn on the Bluetooth manually and not use the NFC tag, or he can tap the NFC tag and then manually turn off the GPS. Alternatively, the user can employ two NFC tags in the car, with each NFC tag having a single command, and the user only tap the NFC tag corresponding to turning on the Bluetooth feature. In this latter scenario, each tag in this case representing a different narrowed action. By extension, if a user desired individual wanted control of ten actions, then this would require employing NFC tags for each of the respective ten actions. This could be visually unappealing, cumbersome, and not user friendly.
It would be desirable to have a command in a NFC tag data capable of incorporating input to provide dynamic results, rather than static results. Further it would be desirable to use the data from more than one NFC tag as part of a single operation thus give a user, through an NFC mobile communication device, the ability to uniquely control multiple possible actions and variations of actions by motioning the mobile communication device over a grouping of NFC tags as the mobile communication device reads the unique combinations of Tags with such motioning of the mobile communication device.